NHL Playoffs 2016: Takeaways from Sunday's Scores and Bracket Results

The St. Louis Blues knew they had let an opportunity slip through their grip in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars, and they were determined to even the series with a solid road performance in Game 2. 

Mission accomplished.

But it wasn't easy, and there is plenty of room for improvement when the Blues return home for Game 3 on Tuesday night. The Blues registered a 4-3 overtime win over the Stars when captain David Backes banged home a rebound off an Alex Steen shot 10:58 into overtime, via Sportsnet:

It never should have gotten that far, because the Blues built a 3-1 lead in the first period and continued to dictate the pace in the second. However, the Blues tried to hang on to the lead in the third, which gave the Stars a chance to get back into the game. 

Mattias Janmark broke in on goaltender Brian Elliott early in the third period and put a wrist shot through his pads to bring the Stars within a goal, and Jamie Benn tied things up with a nifty wrist shot with less than three minutes to play in regulation to send the game into the extra session, via The Cauldron's CJ Fogler:

"

PIERRE!! RT @CauldronICYMI "He said it's coming... it just came" - Jamie Benn's late goal sends it to OT https://t.co/buxXK9ymDt

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 1, 2016"

The Stars opened the scoring early in the first period on a quick shot by Alex Goligoski, but the Blues responded 35 seconds later with Patrik Berglund's wrist shot.

The Blues seized the momentum after that, as Joel Edmundson scored to give the visitors a 2-1 lead, and Troy Brouwer stretched the lead to two goals when he jumped on a rebound with the man advantage and sent the puck by Kari Lehtonen.

Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff pulled Lehtonen and replaced him with Antti Niemi at the start of the second period, and he did a good job of blunting the Blues' momentum.

Brouwer said the Blues were a sharper team in Game 2 than they had been in their 2-1 loss in Game 1.

''The win was huge but just to play the way we can. The first two periods were night and day from the other night,'' he said after the game, per Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press (via CBS Sports). ''Obviously anytime you win in overtime, that's good, and to bring the series back even, that's good.''

Conference	Matchup	Series Standing	Next Game	Time (ET)
Eastern	NY Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning	1-1	May 3 at New York	7 p.m.
Eastern	Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals	1-1	May 2 at Pittsburgh	8 p.m.
Western	St. Louis Blues vs. Dallas Stars	1-1	May 3 at St. Louis	9 p.m.
Western	Nashville Predators vs. San Jose Sharks	San Jose, 2-0	May 3 at Nashville	9:30 p.m.

Backes agreed that the Blues played better in Game 2, but he told NBC's Pierre McGuire in a postgame interview that the Blues had let up in the third period and cannot make that mistake again.

The Stars were penalized twice in the overtime session, and the second penalty proved decisive. Antoine Roussel was called for interference at the 10:41 mark, and Backes netted the game-winner on the power play just 17 seconds later.

Ruff was not happy with the call that led to the goal.

"He was trying to stay onside," he said, per Hawkins. "It doesn't matter whether I like the call or don't like the call. ... We looked like we were going to get an odd-numbered rush and they got a couple hooks on [Stars rookie Radek Faksa] just before going through the middle of the ice, which I was frustrated with."

The Blues have the momentum, and look for them to keep it when the series returns to St. Louis on Tuesday night.

While the Stars were unable to take a 2-0 lead on their home ice, the San Jose Sharks did not miss their opportunity.

Joe Pavelski scored late in the third period, and Joe Thornton added an empty-net goal as the Sharks registered a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

The Sharks have won six of seven playoff games, and they relied on their solid defensive effort and strong checking to register the victory Sunday.

They had kept the Preds off the board until Mattias Ekholm netted a long wrist shot at the 12:56 mark of the third period. While the Predators had momentum after the goal, Thornton set up Pavelski for the game-winner at the 17:20 mark of the third period.

The Sharks, who finished third in the Pacific Division during the regular season, are the only team that has a 2-0 lead in the second round.

Logan Couture gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead on a goal late in the second period, and goalie Martin Jones helped preserve that lead throughout the majority of the third period. 

Jones finished the game with 37 saves.

The Sharks and Predators will resume their series in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Predators should get a lift from playing in front of their loud and enthusiastic fans, but the Sharks appear to be on a mission this spring and will not be intimidated.

It will be tough for Nashville to get that breakthrough win in the series.